


love lucy

by poketa



Category: Glee
Genre: AU childhood best friends, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29122992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poketa/pseuds/poketa
Summary: you love her and you know she loves you, but life is never that simple.(based on the movie love, rosie.)
Relationships: Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray
Comments: 17
Kudos: 64





	love lucy

**Author's Note:**

> based on the movie love rosie this fic has been on my drafts for months now, after watching the movie (again) I've decided to continue it and post it! 
> 
> thanks to my wife emi for supporting me and editing this mess, hopefully we'll stick and complete it!

* * *

_Rachel's 18th birthday._

"You're _so_ pretty, like the prettiest girl I've met in my whole life," The birthday girl slurs into the ear of her best friend as she moves to the beat of the song, but there seems to be a song inside her mind that no one else can hear because she's definitely out of sync. Quinn snorts as she notices it.

“You are _so_ drunk,” The blonde girl comments, her tone lower than usual. Her movements are a little more in sync to the beat.

She's the dancer of the two of them.

Her laughter continues as Rachel takes another shot, then makes a gesture for her to take one too.

"It's my birthday, Quinn! You have to drink when I drink!" 

Rachel’s the one with the great voice and acting talent, even if she looks like a little silly goose with her laugh and slurred speech trying to convince the blonde to take another shot with her.

To be fair, Quinn isn't that much better at handling her alcohol, but she can still identify the way that Rachel’s looking at her with starry eyes. It's a look that makes the blonde feel like she could solve the hunger around the world or maybe something greater than that. The warm feeling inside her stomach must be the alcohol because there's no way she’s looking at Rachel and feeling the desire to kiss her as her life depends on it.

They are friends - _best friends_ \- and that's the end of it.

"Thanks, but I'm good," Quinn murmurs, watching closely as a droplet of tequila runs down the bottom lip of the brunette.

Then the alcohol continues a path down a tan neck, consecutively between a valley of soft skin and mounds that the blonde hasn't felt but wonders about. Quinn shakes her head, looking up towards the face of her best friend, trying to win her own internal battle.

Rachel is biting her own lip, moving closer to her until their foreheads are kissing and the electricity of the moment isn't lost on Quinn, who is the lesser drunk of the two of them.

(She got colleges seeking her out and the best grades in their class - even while drunk she could figure out what's going on.)

Magnets are pushing them together, sliding them closer and closer. Every second makes one closer to the other and before they both know it; Quinn is moving slowly against luscious lips as Rachel kisses her.

It feels like the world's sweetest candy is dissolving on her tongue because she doesn't want to ever stop tasting it.

Hands grasp brunette hair and as if it's not the most stupid idea, Quinn moans softly against her best friend's mouth as Rachel bites her bottom lip.

But then those same lips are pulling away from her and a light goes off somewhere as Quinn opens her eyes and blinks back where her best friend used to stand.

“Rachel-?"

She can't even complete the sentence as she looks down and watches Rachel hitting her head on the way down to the floor of the house.

 _"Fuck!"_ The blonde yells, instantly kneeling to help her friend and slap a hand against her cheek. "Rachel," she breathes out, taking her cheeks and trying to wake her up.

Rachel's already passed out.

* * *

“Hiram, _please_ let me see her,” Quinn pleads with her hands up in prayer, her bottom lip jutting out. Quinn's trying her best to get herself inside the room of her best friend.

Rachel's stricter father seems to have decided on blocking her path to the room with his hands on his hips and a stern expression that is effectively making her step back and swallow.

_“Dad, just let her in, you know it wasn't her fault!"_

Rachel's pained voice rings from inside the room and the roughness of it makes Quinn flinch as the man sends her a harsher glare, rubbing the bridge of his nose and looking up at the ceiling.

“No, _Rachaella_ , she poisoned you and you must rest now!" Hiram calls with apparent finality as he sends another glare to the blonde teenager.

But then Rachel's other father, Leroy, appears down the hall of the house.

(He has always liked Quinn more than Hiram for a reason that she has never quite understood.)

 _“No, Dad, she did not!”_ The brunette argues from inside her room, and the blonde flashes her most apologetic smile towards both men as she nods at them and grins. _"Quinn actually drove me to the ER and probably saved your daughter's life, even if I can't remember any of it!”_ adds Rachel as Quinn's expression shifts with confusion.

Something foul, sour, and heavy settles against her stomach, but the blonde still asks with her eyes to enter the room as Rachel's words hang onto the air.

The pink door finally opens for her as Leroy turns the doorknob and smiles.

"Just make it quick, _dear_ , she gotta rest," He says with a kind smile, his hand on the knob as the other pats her shoulder.

Quinn nods at him, before stepping inside. "Thank you, Leroy," she whispers, before turning around.

The door closes behind her and she faces the bed.

Inside the room, Quinn finds herself with a timid smile, her hands inside the pockets of her yellow dress, and a shy expression on her face as she walks up to the bed, towards her best friend, who looks to be acting like she's on her deathbed.

But then when hasn't Rachel dramatized something?

“So, you _don't_ remember?” The blonde girl opens conversationally, coming closer to the bed until she's sitting on the chair beside it and Rachel can only nod against the pillow under her head with an exhausted expression. "Like any of it?" Quinn adds, her mind conjuring up a kiss that left her without breathing for a good second.

Rachel blinks confusedly up at her, her pink pajamas making her look more adorable than usual.

“I mean, I do remember the shots, but then there's nothing,” She expresses with a huff, throwing a hand over her own forehead with a frown. “Such a shame, my 18th birthday had been so good until then,” the brunette groans.

“Yeah, the coolest," Quinn replies. Her attention shifts to her hands as she sighs, her heart beating out of its cage as the kiss replays only for her to suffer and overanalyze as her best friend seems to not remember it. “Feeling better?” she asks.

“Not exactly, I feel like a steamroller went over my body,” The girl groans, throwing herself under the covers again. The action makes the blonde smile as the brunette leaves a little hole of blankets to peer up at her, curious brown eyes shining with a smile.

Quinn's stomach flutters and she shakes her head, dissipating it. “You'll survive,” she replies and then sighs deeply as her chin falls onto the open palm of her hand. “Not like me after my mom has obligated to go to church to pray for what I did to you” she adds with a grin.

And the most dramatic gasp leaves Rachel's lips as she uncovers herself, sitting straight back again on the bed. “Did they try to burn you for what you did?" she questions seriously.

 _"Worse,"_ Quinn answers with a shake of her head as she looks over at Rachel. The morning she had flashes in her mind. _“Sam Evans_ asked me out to the dance," she tells her friend with her nose wrinkling at the thought of the awkward proposal.

A proposal that included mentions of superheroes she didn't know about and one dorky impression of James Bond that didn't appeal to her to do anything but laugh at him.

"And you said?" Rachel counters with an excited expression that makes Quinn watch another petal fall from the flower that represents whatever blossomed in-between them last night.

It hurts, it confuses her, but the worse part? She is the only one who seems to remember it.

"No?" The blonde-haired girl replies with a frown.

"But he's cute!" 

“He's - I don't know, he looks like my lost twin," Quinn replies as she looks away from her friend, debating herself about telling Rachel that she can't stop thinking about the kiss they shared the night before.

One that Rachel seems set in not mentioning, at all.

“You should give him a chance,” The brunette offers with a grin.

And passing a hand through her hair, Quinn just takes a moment to consider her words before she speaks. “Aren't you my date, Rachel?" she replies with a smirk. "And I'm yours, wasn't that the deal?" 

Rachel's expression turns a little conflicted, but she rubs her temples, and it seems to Quinn that is just a headache acting up.

"I'll go now," Quinn says with a gentle caress to her hair, before standing up "Speedy recovery, _party animal."_

The girl nods drowsily before her eyes close and she falls back again in the bed.

And Quinn just sighs with conflict as she opens and closes the door, sending a quick nod to the man waiting by the hallway, who smiles back.

* * *

They are lying under the sun, happily on their backs over beach towels that have seen better days, too drunk in the feeling of liberty that is reaching their lives as the end of their senior year of high school is at the forefront of both of their minds. 

The sand is hot under their toes, the sun rays slowly kiss their skin, and Quinn squints up her eyes as she sees the silhouette of someone very tall walking towards them both.

Finally, her lips turn to a grimace as she identifies who it is walking their way.

Her hands are quick to move her sunglasses down as she glares at the boy.

“Hey, Quinn," Her ex-boyfriend greets with his shy awkward attitude that is entirely too inadequate for his size, but then Finn bypasses her to stand by Rachel's towel and the blonde quickly sits on her own towel to throw an offended look at the boy, who isn't even looking at her.

It only makes the anger rise faster.

“Go away, Finn,” Quinn grits, glaring at him, but he doesn't even glance in her direction as he looks expectantly at Rachel.

The blonde does the same thing, waiting for her best friend to dismiss the dumb boy into oblivion.

His enormous dumb frame is blocking the sun. The blonde grits internally.

But then there is an unexpected turn of events before her hazel eyes as the short brunette lowers her own glasses with a shy smile and looks up towards Quinn's annoying ex-boyfriend with an expression that makes the blonde frown deeply.

“Good afternoon, Finn,” Rachel greets airily.

Something settles right there in the middle of the distance between their towels, a statement, the idea that Quinn is finally seeing something that has been developing for quite some time and the blonde instantly stands from her spot, quickly throwing her towel and belongings inside her bag, collecting her sandals and book along too as she begins to walk away from the pair.

No way this is happening she repeats to herself, one step after the other as acid rises up her throat. 

_“Quinn! Wait!"_

Hot on her heels is her best friend, who seems to be too unaware to notice what's going on as she follows her with the evident hot sand burning her feet.

"Don't walk away from me,” Rachel exclaims, throwing her hands up as the blonde glances back, still keeping her stride. “My legs aren't as long as yours and there's also the scalding hot sand burning up my skin -” she exclaims, but the blonde cuts her off.

 _“How long?”_ The taller girl inquires, turning fully around to face her best friend and there is a telltale of confusion that quickly evaporates from the brunette's face to be replaced by a smile that fools absolutely no one.

“How long _what?”_ Rachel replies, scrunching up her nose and skipping on her feet to seemingly escape the heat of the sand.

Even if the action is cute and Quinn would love to tease her about it, there's something more important at hand as the blonde points a finger at her best friend and speaks slowly.

“Don’t, okay? You're smarter than this _bullshit_ act," She breathes deeply in and then out and asks because she wants the agony to be over and not let her mind wander beyond and worse. “How long has this been going on?” the blonde inquires.

Her friend's way too bright smile drops, and the scene turns grim. Her stomach instantly turns and Quinn knows whatever will come out of Rachel's mouth will hurt her.

“Three weeks.”

_“Three weeks?”_

But Quinn can't even do more than repeat the words, just turning around and walking away from her friend again, feeling her eyes start to leak tears that burn their way down.

“Stop walking away from me, _Quinn!_ Let me explain!”

This time the voice isn't directly behind her and the blonde stops, turning around to gaze at the still awkwardly standing brunette, who seems to have forgotten the burning sand as her feet lay still and her expression remains plain.

“Three _fucking_ weeks!" Quinn repeats. Her voice is at the cuspid of breaking, but she swallows tightly, clearing her throat, before continuing, “That's how long it took you to decide to tell me you were seeing someone, not just someone, but my fucking _ex-boyfriend_ , Rachel!”

The brunette opens her mouth but then what comes out of it is just the worst possible reply.

"Is this...- are you _jealous_ , Quinn?” 

Even with the distance, the blinding sun shining down on them, and the rage that is consuming her up, Quinn can distinguish the expression on Rachel's face. It makes her snort in the most offended possible way she can manage.

“I would understand if that were the case, after all," Rachel continues with quick gestures of her hands that don't mean anything at all to her as Quinn listens. "Finn and you did date for a very long time during freshman and sophomore year and - " 

"How can you be my best friend and not know _shit_ about me!" Quinn yells with anger as their kiss plays on her mind the touch, the intimacy, the moment, their eyes connecting.

She looks back at Rachel, but the girl clearly seems to be on a whole different page as her expression remains conflicted.

"But I do know you, Quinn," Rachel counters back with a frown and she steps closer, but the blonde can't dare to meet her at the center. "And that's why I knew I had to wait to tell you about Finn _and_ me," the brunette adds.

The truth settles between them; cold, hard, and heavy, Quinn realizes, they aren't just on two different pages, but they are on two completely different books.

She shakes her head, before turning around and walking away from the scene, deciding to just leave the beach.

No one follows her back home.

* * *

The music is loud in her ears and immediately as Quinn sees Rachel dancing and laughing with Finn, her insides turn.

Graduation comes with a whole month of not talking.

The blonde searches for the closest boy to distract herself, but then Sam is dancing with Mercedes Jones by the other side of the dance floor and she bites her lip as her first option is discarded quickly.

Wearing just a cheap suit and tie, Quinn finds him by the punch table.

_“Sup, Q.”_

Noah Puckerman is a complete idiot, a whole dumbass, a horrible haircut, and smells too much of his pestilent cologne. There's something terribly disgusting about the way his dark dirty green eyes had always settled on her, but the image of Rachel behind her eyelids is too painful for her to bear so Quinn accepts the cup he's offering with a grin.

 _“Hey,”_ She replies, sipping the offered cup, grimacing as the taste of alcohol settles on her tongue and the blonde realizes that more than spiked, her cup is pretty much pure vodka with a pinch of citrus on it.

Still, Quinn sips it, again and then again, deciding to dumb herself down enough to enjoy the stupid party.

“Wanna dance?” Puck inquires as he wriggles his eyebrows at her, sipping his own cup and making a movement with his hips that pretty much looks like dry humping to her.

The temptation to throw the drink in his face and walk away presents like an available option to Quinn, but then her eyes catch the image of her best friend and her ex dancing behind the mohawked boy. The blonde nods sharply, drinking the whole cup in one go.

“I'll lead, Puckerman,” She warns tightly, dropping the cup on the table at her right and roughly taking his hand to move them away, as far away from that haunting image as she can, the boy smirking at her in that disgusting way that he always does.

"Everything you say, _m'lady."_

Quinn shoots him an annoyed look as she steals another cup from a table, quickly sniffing it, before throwing it back and drinking all the contents. "It's anything you say, _moron,"_ she corrects.

But instead of paying attention to her words, he pulls his hands onto her hips, moving her closer to him. The desire to push his disgusting rough hands away and slap his face is too much, so Quinn just turns around, taking his hands and settling them on her stomach as she moves slowly against him, trying to dissipate the thoughts of Rachel and Finn, just a few meters away dancing closely with smiles and giggles.

"Yes, baby," Puck says from behind her, sliding up closer to talk in her ear, his low register making her flinch.

It's his cologne, his skin, his whole persona that’s just wrong, but Quinn just closes her eyes and losing herself in the music as the alcohol curses through her body, numbing her a little, but not enough to forget the image of Rachel dancing with Finn.

That image is absolutely tattooed behind her eyelids, torturing her as she tries to stick to a kiss that only she can remember.

* * *

It's not surprising when after a few more drinks, a few more hours of dancing and way too many images of Rachel and Finn having fun at prom, Quinn finds herself laying on her back on the bed of the hotel room with the greasy boy begging with eager hands and zero respect for the word no.

"Come on, baby," He mumbles against her lips as his hands grab her sides over the material of her lilac prom dress. Quinn really tries to get into the kiss, but her drunk mind is back at the dance with someone who doesn't even know where she is right now.

The feel of guilt eats her alive, even as she still lays dressed on her lilac prom dress with just her hair liberated from the bun, blonde hair laying against a white pillow.

But then the memory of an overhead conversation outside the lady’s bathroom back at the prom crashes her mind and she sighs deeply.

It's something that she shouldn't have heard at all that meets her thoughts, and the dread expands on her stomach like poison.

_"Man - I ain't lying to you! Hudson got a room too; he's taking her up there when the night ends!"_

Quinn almost emptied her stomach right there when she heard it, but no, instead of doing that, she just acted like nothing ever happened, walking back to Puck, who seemed decently happy enough to just be dancing by himself, instead of flirting with whatever girl stupid enough to be with him while she excused herself to the bathroom.

And she decided something.

"Take me away from here," Quinn whispered in his ear as she caressed his chest, her lips gently touching the skin of his cheek.

He didn't take more than a second to take up her offer and drag her up towards a hotel room.

And now, there she is, on her back, with a dumb teenager on top of her begging to have something from her that Quinn isn't sure she wants to give away.

When she thought about losing her virginity before, she never thought it would be like this, but then the blonde didn't think too much about sex when her time was mostly spent thinking about getting out of their town and her plans with Rachel.

_Rachel._

Who's probably already losing her own virginity with Quinn's, very dumb and tall, ex-boyfriend.

It hurts to think about it, but she can already see it happening somewhere.

Finn in his back, Rachel on top of him, their lips fussing together as their hands touch frantically over clothes and strokes-

"Lemme make you feel good, babe," Puck whispers roughly against her cheek, his hands squeezing her sides.

Quinn prefers to focus on the present, more than the image of her ex and her best friend having sex as the taste of betrayal and jealousy washes over.

"Do you have a condom?" She rasps, moving her head away from his, holding him away to look seriously into his dilated eyes.

Puck lifts his head from her neck and nods with a smirk.

"Sure do, baby girl." 

The boy is quick to wave the aforementioned product before her eyes: A grey and blue square package with the evident shape of a condom inside.

"Then what are you waiting for, big boy?" Quinn says before she can think better of it.

* * *

It's funny how quickly a monumental moment in your life could be reduced to just staring at the ceiling as the boy pants beside you and, perhaps, sex isn't just that great, Quinn says to herself, feeling as settled as she did before entering the hotel room.

Didn't that dumbass promise to _rock_ her world?

She lifts the blankets and looks at the disappointing soft penis with a frown, scoffing softly to herself.

But then something happens that actually stops her heart.

 _"Wait_ \- where's the condom?" The blonde inquires as the boy begins to dose off beside her and the thought about orgasms, lackluster performances, and ridiculous low stamina moves to the background of her mind as she looks in-between them for the piece of latex.

"You had it," Puck mutters, closing his eyes and snuggling his pillow.

"No, your _thing_ had it!" Quinn replies harshly, moving away from him and pushing him aside to see if he is laying on top of the condom.

There's nothing there and Quinn zeroes on the only other possibility, feeling her stomach drop like an elevator without brakes.

_"No."_

With a ridiculous disgusting smile, Puck moves a hand in her direction as she lifts the blankets and stares down at her vagina, feeling her world stop.

"Need a hand?" He asks with a smirk.

Quinn throws a glare at the boy as she stands from the bed and throws a pillow to his mohawked head with rage.

"This is your fault!"

* * *

"Pick up, pick up, pick - " Quinn chants, covering as best as she can her body with Puck's coat. 

Underneath, she's just wearing her underwear and it's mostly because she couldn't wait to get out of that room and get to Rachel to fix the mess.

The elevator seems to be taking forever and it's just when she's almost thinking about taking the stairs, but, instead of that, the other end of the call picks up.

_"Quinn?"_

The blonde sighs with relief, moving her bangs away from her eyes as she speaks. "Rachel - I _need_ you," she whispers hurriedly.

"What do you mean? What happened? Where are you? Want me to pick you up?"

"It's - what happened -" Quinn breathes loudly against the receiver, but just sends every warning to hell as she speaks loudly into the receiver, ignoring the old businessman behind her. "There's a _condom_ stuck inside me, Rachel." 

And just at the same time she stops talking, the elevator door opens with the image of Rachel and Finn standing there in the hall, her with a shocked expression and him with a confused one.

"That was - far _more_ information that I needed," Rachel mutters, moving her phone away from her ear as her eyes move instantly down Quinn's body and then up with a blush.

"What's up?" From beside her, Finn asks with a frown, his expression full of puzzlement that makes him seem like he just pooped his pants.

But before Quinn can tell him to mind his own business, Rachel turns to him, shooting a rueful smile.

"Quinn _needs_ me - I'll be going home with her okay?" 

The boy frowns deeper, looking from the small brunette towards her, but Quinn can only look at the expression of concern on Rachel's face that warms her insides and it's not from embarrassment.

Even while fighting, Rachel decides to help her. Quinn could cry if she wasn't so damn stressed about the condom stuck inside her.

"Okay, babe," Finn replies, kissing Rachel's cheek. The blonde steps out of the elevator, instantly taking Rachel's hand and walking them towards the exit of the hotel.

No more words are interchanged between them as they go to the nearest hospital.

The drive is uncomfortable and not even the pop music that Rachel loves to play can dissipate the awkwardness that’s been lingering in the air since it entered the car with them as they stare ahead with matching frowns.

"You don't have to tell me," Rachel says, tapping her fingers on the driving wheel. There's something so unnerving about the way that she can't meet her eyes that Quinn just shakes her head, looking outside the window as the girl keeps talking, "But were you with Noah when the… _uhm…_ _accident_ happened?"

"We don't have to talk about _this,"_ The blonde replies instead, crossing her legs to keep them from shaking, but then she remembers the condom and uncrosses them with clear disgust across her face.

And Rachel exhales sharply, signaling a turn and then tapping her fingertips in the driving wheel.

"Yes, I guess, we don't."

* * *

"My name is Richard Collins and I'll be your doctor tonight."

"Of course, that's your name," Quinn mutters with a blush as she hugs herself on the hospital bed, still in the coat of the boy who put her in this position. The desire to scream is high, like 110 on a scale of 1 to 10, but she just bites her lip before asking, "Isn't a nurse available?"

"Nope," The doctor replies with a grin, his dimples showing with the expression. "Now, what do we have - " his expression turns less smiley as he trails off. She nods with a deeper blush as he lifts his brow at her and does a quick once-over of her body. "Up, front or back?" Richard questions, putting his gloves on, then clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Who the _fuck_ you think I am?" Quinn barks, her cheeks lighting up as she covers her chest a little more from the man.

But the doctor just lifts his hands with a serious expression. "Easy there, my job is to not assume." 

And the blonde sighs, leveling down her defenses a little. "Sorry," she apologizes and then rolls her eyes, adding with a frown, "Just front and center, _Dick."_

The man laughs briefly, before telling her to open her legs for him. It's strange how it’s the second time that night that a man has told her to do that.

Quinn can only hide her blushing face with a hand as she does. 

_God, her church would have a field trip with her_.

* * *

They are sitting in Quinn's car, just outside Rachel's house. The motor’s still on just for the radio to play.

Neither of them has said a word since leaving ER and because of that, it makes Quinn whip her head around with surprise when it's actually Rachel who breaks the silence between them.

_"Let's go to New York."_

"What?" The blonde inquires with confusion. The whole evening has left her more than exhausted and not for the reasons one would usually assume after a teenager attends their prom night.

"Let's just leave this town tonight," The brunette elaborates with a smile. Her eyes shine in the darkness of the night and the lamp from the street makes her face light up in a way that makes the blonde breath with difficulty. "Come with me, Quinn," Rachel continues with a giggle as the blonde shakes her head with a laugh at the proposal. "You will have NYU, literature, books, and be able to tell stories too," the girl elaborates with excitement clear across her face.

And for all the hardships, it’s incredible that Rachel still wants her by her side.

"Tonight, huh?" Quinn inquires with a smile, her heart filling with an intense feeling for the girl in the other seat, who nods eagerly. "What about you? What do you have over New York?" she asks with a knowing glint in her eye.

 _"NYADA,"_ Rachel answers with a voice that isn't cocky, but sure of herself. Quinn just smiles widely back at her best friend, nodding at her to continue. "Broadway, the lights, the stages, I have absolutely everything for me there - plus, I'll have you there too if you come with me," she adds with a softer voice. 

The blonde’s smile dips into a little shy one as the brunette offers a hand. She takes it, lacing their fingers together. The feeling in her heart spreads like sun rays through the snow, melting, disseminating, until they are just staring at each other in silence. 

Hands tangled and a song playing in the silence of the night.

Her broken heart heals a little with the closeness of this encounter and Quinn can't lie that the lack of Finn in Rachel's plans doesn't make her the happiest person on Earth.

"You're crazy," She comments after a second, but there's not one ounce of mocking or teasing, she's just stating it as it is. 

"Is it bad that I am?" The brunette girl in the pink dress asks, somehow, timidly.

But Quinn shakes her head _. "No,"_ she assures instantly. She caresses her thumb over the soft skin of her best friend's hand and adds, "Because that makes you who you are."

The radio moves onto another pop song, this time a ballad and it feels like one of those moments that movies like to highlight as important ones as they look into each other's eyes across the seats of the red car.

"And I _love_ the way you are," Quinn continues. She's hundred percent sure she was about to say something way different with those same exact words, but she's glad it came out that way instead. 

Rachel laughs, before extracting her hand to open the door, and heads outside the car. "Come on, we already broke our curfew for like ten minutes, our parents must be _freaking_ out.”

Following her, Quinn gets out of the car too, locking it with her keys, saving them in the pocket of her dress.

"Goodnight, Quinn," The smaller girl says, waving at her as the blonde walks towards her house on the other side of the street.

But before she enters, Quinn memorizes the sight before her.

Rachel is a sight to behold in her pink dress and heels under the streetlight. The blonde watches her intently as the words come out of her mouth before she can help it. "I would, _you know,"_ she says after a second, before biting her lip.

"What?" The brunette inquires, looking at her strangely from under the threshold of her own front porch.

The street is completely empty, everyone must be sleeping inside. Their voices carry easily without the need of talking louder than a normal speaking voice across the street.

"If I were to run away with anyone," Quinn replies with a shrug, holding herself in a hug as to not fall apart right there as she stares back at her best friend from her childhood. The person who’s currently holding not only all of her thoughts but her heart in her hands. "It would be _you,_ Rachel," she finishes with a smile.

And Rachel replies with a smile that makes her go to bed that night with so much hope that makes Quinn think that maybe she isn't as delusional as she thinks she is.

Maybe Rachel feels something _too._

Yeah, like Quinn would ever be that lucky.

* * *

"Absolutely _not."_

"Why not?" Quinn asks, turning towards her mother as she crosses her arms over her chest and stares at the only parent who actually listens to her.

But her father is the one that replies.

"Because you're supposed to marry a young man and become a housewife, Lucy," Her father says, sending a glare that could have made her cower a few years ago, but she's beyond caring at this point as her scholarship remains in one back pocket and her dreams in the other.

"But that's not what I want, dad," The blonde counters, raising from her chair as her anger makes her shed a tear that she angrily wipes away. "That's not for what I've been working my _ass_ for the last four years," Quinn remarks bitterly.

"We let you hang out with Rachel, that's enough fun for a lifetime," Her father says with a smile that’s more mocking than anything else, and she shakes her head fervently at him.

"Well, I'm going to New York want it or not," Quinn replies, waving her letter. She turns to her mother, but the older woman is just looking visibly subdued by her husband and the girl laughs. "And you'll be so _damn_ proud of me someday," she warns, before peeling the letter from the table and beginning to walk out of the house.

The tears run down her cheeks steadily as she steps towards her second home, her sneakers falling heavy on the hot asphalt as she does with her letter in hand.

Quinn tries to not grip the acceptance letter too tight in her hand, but the feeling inside her chest is awful and the blonde inevitably drops a tear in the part that states her hard-earned scholarship when she goes to wipe her tears away with her sleeve.

Not bothering to knock on the door, Quinn just uses the emergency key from under the welcome rug to peel open the front door and step inside the house, looking for the one person that never lets her down.

"Rachel?" She calls softly, hiccupping as she wipes more tears with the back of her hand.

But there's an eerie silence that greets her. Quinn closes the door behind herself, supporting her weight on it with closed eyes, trying to get a hold of herself as the happiness of the letter washes over.

Rachel will be proud, her best friend will not react like her parents, the blonde reassures herself.

_"Ah…."_

Her ears perk up at the sound from the second floor of the house and she moves towards the stairs with unsure steps, listening for any more strange sounds.

_"Rachel, that's good..."_

Quinn pauses, moving her feet back to the floor, her hand gripping the letter tighter.

Suddenly, her cheeks get bright red as the sounds throw an image back to her, an image that she would have preferred to never have there in her mind in the first place.

Her stomach revolves, and before she knows it, nausea hits her senses and body as she doubles over.

_"Yes…that's good."_

She lifts a hand to her mouth, closing her eyes as another wave of nausea comes. The voices and sounds become louder and louder.

Quinn sends her other hand back to open the door, blindly opening behind her as she turns around, walking outside the house and swiftly closing the wooden door behind herself.

Nausea hits her again and before she knows it, she's emptying her stomach by the bushes in the entryway of the Berry's house.

Luckily, she doesn't throw up all over her favorite white vans, now that would be the top of the disaster of a cake her day has been.

Quinn wipes the back of her hand over her mouth as the disgusting image of Rachel and Finn presents again on her mind. 

She tries to not cry, but still, a few tears escape her eyes. She closes them, feeling worse than a minute before.

Her green eyes find the letter as she rubs her stomach slowly, but then, suddenly, it hits her and the blonde girl opens her eyes wider, looking down at her body.

Her hand moves straight to the center of her stomach as her mind races to search for the last time she had her period. 

But, of course, so violently conflicted by everything happening around her makes it way too difficult for her to remember. 

The idea presents as Quinn gazes at her acceptance letter with wistful eyes and longing.

 _"Fuck,"_ Quinn breathes out, closing her eyes tightly as nausea hits her again.

* * *

"Hi." 

_"Hey,"_ The dark-skinned girl behind the counter replies lazily. 

She has big hoop earrings on her ears and a Teen magazine on her hands. Her whole demeanor gives a clear message that says that she doesn't really care about her job.

Quinn recognizes her as the latina girl who’s a year older than her and who’s dating that one blue-eyed blonde cheerleader who used to wave at Rachel anywhere she sees her.

The expression on the girl's face is sour and the pink-haired girl clears her throat again, calling for her attention as she rubs her stomach over her shirt.

Who would think that that very girl is dating a person who is the human version of a _fucking_ sunshine, huh?

"Can I have grape-flavored gum?" Quinn asks with a lazy movement of her hand toward the specific brand of gum behind the glass.

"Don't know - _can you?"_ The girl throws back sarcastically, before snorting, her dark eyes finally on her. "Yeah, whatevs," she says, dropping the magazine and moving to open the glass box.

"And can I have a _pregnancytest_ too," The blonde adds in a rush, looking directly at the poster of Jesus behind the counter with a glare, then looking away to anywhere but the face of the other girl.

"Quite didn't catch that, _blondie_ , you'll have to speak louder and slower," The girl remarks with a laugh, passing a hand through her hair.

The air in her lungs feels like poison coursing through her system, but Quinn breathes out and turns towards the counter with a tight smile, facing the girl again.

 _Unluckily,_ she can't run away from this.

"Can I have a _pregnancy test,_ please?" Quinn asks with a less nice voice, raising her voice and brow at the other girl, whose expression becomes surprised.

"Of course," The girl says with a sardonic smile and the idea of punching her kinda pretty face comes to her mind, but Quinn just receives the little, long box with the words that scare her. She swallows, taking it on her hands with shaky fingers.

Her heart beats out of rhythm and there's a slight shake to her hand as she moves it up towards her eyes to read the label better.

_Pregnancy test: 99% testability._

"You _okay_ there?" 

She looks up seizing the girl's expression that has dropped the cockiness it had a second before, now there's a furrowed brow and concerned dark eyes staring back at her and it's a little disconcerting to Quinn, but welcome, as she slowly nods.

Moving her other hand up, the blonde-haired girl moves away the tears that she has just noticed have been running down her cheeks, the weight of the box on her hand makes her shiver as she shakes her head from side to side then.

"Can I use your bathroom?" Quinn says instead. Her green eyes move away. She gets a nod from the latina, who stands from the chair behind the counter, throwing her magazine down on the counter with finality.

"Follow me, _Barbie."_

* * *

"Well, Fabray, what the _fuck_ it says?" 

The seconds have been ticking slowly as they wait for the white stick to deliver her future inside the cramped space of the shop's bathroom and Quinn wonders with confusion two things.

 _First,_ how does this girl know who she is?

Secondly, what the _fuck_ is the girl doing inside the bathroom with her? 

But before she can deliver any of these questions to the sarcastic latina with the scary expression, the alarm on her phone goes off and her heart stops with it.

Her hands shake as she lifts the little stick to her line of vision and Quinn's heart drops to her feet as the two red lines stare back at her, her throat closing with fear.

"No."

The dark-haired girl steals the stick from her hand and lifts it towards her own eyes as the blonde just breathes out with difficulty, hugging herself.

And more than her heart dropping with the news, she sees her future going with it.

 _"Holy shit_ \- maybe it's wrong," The latina curses, shaking the stick from side to side and checking it again, but the result remains the same. "These things can lie, _okay?"_ she assures with worried eyes.

But Quinn doesn't react to the commotion going beside her, she can only stare into the emptiness that presents before her eyes as her left hand moves towards her midsection to caress under her belly button.

"I'm _pregnant,"_ She finally says and the idea of taking another test presents briefly in her mind, but something just tells her that denial isn't the way to go.

Quinn closes her eyes as tears start to go down her cheeks again and a loud sob leaves her lips.

_Fucking Puckerman._

But really, she blames him, because she's too fragile at the moment to blame herself.

* * *

_Santana_ , the girl from the store, takes her home in an old restored black Camaro with _Katy Perry_ playing through the speakers.

The distance between her home and the shop isn't even that far, Quinn could've easily walked, just like she did before, but there's an undergoing tension inside the car that tells the blonde that the girl driving may have had the wrong idea about her current plans as she shots quick looks over the stick every five seconds.

"Not gonna jump out of the pier and drown myself in the bottom of the ocean," The blonde-haired girl informs as she looks outside the window, towards the shore and a scoff leaves her previously abused lips that are raw by the action of her own teeth. "If that's what you're thinking," Quinn adds with a lifeless tone.

"Didn't ask," Santana replies with a snort, but the grip of her knuckles on the driving wheel turns almost white and that's enough to confirm what Quinn thought.

"Why are you driving me home then?" The girl in the passenger seat throws back, looking at the profile of the other girl critically.

She has a nice face, pretty, maybe in another life, Quinn wonders if they would have been closer friends than this.

"Cause I wanted to get out of work early, _bitch,"_ The latina counters, but you can't bullshit a bullshiter as they say. 

Quinn just raises her brows with disbelief clear across her expression. _"Sure,"_ She replies, but the energy to be a bitch isn't really cursing through her veins today, certainly not after getting the confirmation she got a new life growing inside her body.

Her forehead touches the glass as her head falls to the window and a deep sigh leaves her lips.

"What are you gonna do with it, _anyway?"_ The girl behind the driving wheel asks, she shoots a disinterested look to the passenger seat, but her eyes still have that frenzied look they had at the shop when the stick showed the two red lines. 

And Quinn closes her eyes tightly as more tears leave her green eyes, wiping them with the back of her hand. "There's a cousin of mine who can hook you up with some _pills_ \- " Santana comments, but the blonde just cuts her off.

"I'm gonna keep it," She replies dryly, and really, it wasn't a question to be made, at least, to her.

There's no way she will do - _that._

"Are you _fucking_ with me?" Santana replies and the car stops by the side of the road sharply, making Quinn put her hands in the console to keep herself from hitting her body against it. "What's wrong with you?" the girl asks with her expression in complete bewilderment.

"Nothing," Quinn snaps, caressing her stomach with her hands. "Why do you care, _anyway?"_ she counters back.

"Because you won't save yourself from this _bullshit?"_ The latina throws angrily to her stomach, scoffing. "You're barely eighteen, go to college, sleep around, live your life - don't attach yourself to this _crap,"_ she remarks firmly.

Even if the words make sense and appease her in some twisted part inside herself, Quinn just bites out with teary eyes. "This isn't your business." 

Hitting the steering wheel, Santana bites back, silencing her "Like _hell_ it is, it has been my goddamn business since you stepped inside my father's shop to buy that _fucking_ pregnancy test!" 

"Well, no one asked you to do _that!"_ Quinn screams, before opening the passenger door and slamming it closed behind her, beginning to walk away from the car.

But the car follows her close beside her as she walks towards her home with tears falling more rapidly down her cheeks.

"You'll regret this _shit!"_

"Leave me _alone,"_ Quinn yells back, showing her middle finger to the girl, who stares at her for a second, before making a U-turn, effectively, leaving her, just like that, alone.

Alone in the middle of the road towards her home with a hand resting against her stomach and a positive pregnancy test on a plastic bag in her back pocket.

The acceptance letter is resting against her other pocket and Quinn can only cry more as she finds her way back home.

* * *

_Rachel, can I come over?_

Quinn texts as she rests her head against the pillow on her bed, her tears are no longer running, but it's because she's probably dehydrated by now.

She waits for a reply with attention, her heart beating a steady rhythm that makes her think of the life growing inside her.

Her hand inevitably goes to her stomach and she closes her eyes with pain.

Her phone beeps with an oncoming message and she opens them again, just to get angry at the reply.

_Finn's dad is taking all of us to dinner! :( Sorry! Maybe tomorrow?_

_"Fuck_ them," Quinn groans with anger, starting to write a very long and resented message that mentions every time she has been blown off for Finn. 

Even mentioning the disgusting sounds that Quinn witnessed during the afternoon on the text. 

But instead of sending that, Quinn just deletes everything and sends a short two-word reply.

What Rachel actually deserves, a dry but supporting reply.

_"Enjoy dinner."_

And she throws her phone towards the wall, tears coming down again, it seems like she will always have some tears saved just to shed for Rachel.

She rubs her stomach and Quinn closes her eyes with pain as one idea becomes clear then.

_They are alone in this._

* * *

_"NYADA! I'm in!"_

It's been a week since the pregnancy test turned her future around and Quinn can only squint her eyes as Rachel appears by their usual spot by the beach, wearing a baseball hat that screams of Finn and makes the blonde frown, looking back towards the sea.

"What about NYU?" Rachel asks eagerly, sitting beside her, rearranging the blonde's towel to leave a spot for her to sit too. "Did they send your letter? Are you in yet?"

But Quinn turns to her to watch her with careful eyes, her hand rubs her stomach as she sighs wistfully. "Nothing yet," She lies.

And her friend frowns with evident sorrow, her eyes sparkling with care and the blonde has to look away to not confess everything in one go.

It has been enough days for her to rationalize her thoughts, to understand her future and what not and if there's something that highlights from all of it is that hiding the truth from Rachel is the best thing to do.

(Not because the girl would do something stupid like leave her dreams and future to raise a kid with Quinn in their little beach town. Rachel has her path straight - painful pun intended - for her since she was a child and Quinn has been clear to push her to follow her dreams over everything else.

No, it's because if Rachel knew the truth and there's even the tiniest littlest possibility of the girl looking at Quinn differently, maybe with disgust, or worse, disappointment, the blonde couldn't take it.

She couldn't absolutely bear it - maybe from her parents, her peers, everyone, but to disappoint Rachel? 

Yeah, Quinn prefers to break the friend code and lie, you know, _like a liar._ )

"You're extremely talented, intelligent, the best of our class, the most brilliant- I don't see how that can even be possible to happen," Rachel admits with a frown, her expression one of anger and the blonde takes a mental picture of this moment, probably, the last time she will ever hear someone speak so highly of her.

"Maybe they got them mixed," The brunette offers then, laying her hand over Quinn's cold one. 

The blonde shrugs with a sad smile. “Yeah, maybe,” She says as her NYU letter remains on the back pocket of her jeans.

* * *

The airport is packed with people as the summer comes to an end. Quinn is wearing one of her dresses as her stomach grows with life inside her, starting to show the inevitable truth. 

Her feet start to hurt as she stands by the departure zone, but there is no way the blonde will lose this moment for someone who isn't even born yet.

The baby has ruined enough moments for her. It can wait as Quinn deserves this last moment, more than anything else.

“I'll wait for you," Rachel says with tears in her eyes. Quinn grasps her hands tightly and smiles back at her. “January will come, and you'll be with me, taking New York by storm,” the brunette assures with a nod, her eye sharp. “Just like we planned, _okay?”_

 _“Okay,”_ The blonde girl replies with a smile of her own as she counts the months of her pregnancy and the idea of the adoption of the baby leaves the window open for her to complete her part of the deal.

By January, the baby will be with their new family and Quinn will be free to follow her dreams along with her best friend over New York - just like she planned.

Suddenly, Rachel proceeds to take a book from her backpack, offering it up to her and Quinn bites back her tears.

_Milk and Honey._

“I gave you that book as a gift, what are you doing?” She inquires with a frown, taking the book in her hands. 

It's obviously Rachel's copy, the pink bookmark is peaking from one corner and the back has her initials grabbed.

It's pristine - Quinn's copy has seen many battles and has colourful notes peeking out from every page.

“You'll have mine," Rachel says with a nod, she takes another book from her backpack, this time Quinn's copy appearing from there and the blonde understands what's happening with a teary chuckle. “And I'll have _yours,”_ the girl affirms with a teary laugh. “This way we can exchange them once you come back to me,” the brunette adds as she opens her arms and they hug firmly again, the book squeezing between them.

It's heartbreaking the idea of being apart from Rachel for so long, Quinn has never done that for more than a few days and it scares her to even think about it for more than a second, so she moves back and assures.

“I will _always_ be with you,” The blonde murmurs in the cheek of her best friend as she inhales her scent and their gazes just become one.

And they just look at each other for a long moment, absorbing each other, the situation, and everything in-between.

They just look into each other's eyes and the pull is evident, but Quinn can't do it, not now, not when Rachel is about to achieve her dreams. Everything is so fragile. So, she moves back, leaving Rachel watching her with a small frown.

"Enjoy New York, Rachel," She says with a whisper, before kissing a tan cheek and moving back.

The girl nods without words, before picking her bag and moving to customs.

A heavy hand falls on her shoulder and Quinn turns to Leroy, who has tears in his brown eyes, and she smiles tearily up at him as he embraces her.

"See you in a few days!" Rachel yells from her spot as she walks towards her gate and then beyond.

And Quinn just cries as she watches her taking the plane, Leroy patting her back as he then moves to hug his husband.

At least, she's not alone dealing with this.

* * *

She walks out before her parents can kick her out and that's how she ends up all the way across the other side of the street, where Hiram and Leroy wait for her with open arms and sweet tea.

“It's okay,” Leroy whispers as she steps into his arms, shaking with despair as the reality falls once more down onto her shoulders.

He encircles her frame with his strong arms, and she shakes her head, trying to speak, but her throat hurts too much, her mind’s running, and she's empty of explanations.

“It will be okay,” He says again, moving to look at her into her eyes and Quinn just shakes. “You are almost like a daughter to us, anyway.” 

She laughs, but it's joyless.

“Can you- can you _please_ do me one more favor?” Quinn asks quietly as she looks back at Hiram, who seems to be the sterner of the two.

He is so much like his daughter and that's why it scares her to ask this and get an answer that she can't bear to hear.

“Rachel can't know about _this,"_ She begs pleadingly. Hiram frowns at her and she looks at Leroy, who nods at her to keep talking. “She - I don't want her to know about this until it's _done,”_ Quinn explains with a huff, closing her eyes as Leroy holds her tighter.

It hurts, but she has taken many hard decisions the last few months and this one, this one is the one that will keep her sane during this.

Suddenly, a second pair of arms hold her, and she breathes out with relief as both men try to keep her upright.

Indeed, Hiram is just like Rachel.

“Of course, Quinn,” He whispers against her head and she cries a little more because her luck isn't that sometimes. "We can keep the secret."

* * *

"Do you have foot cream?" 

Santana looks up from her magazine with a smirk, but her eyes say different as her eyes travel around Quinn's face with clear judgment, but the blonde can't care enough to snap at her, she's beyond exhausted with the baby kicking inside her.

"I do," The latina answers with a nod, popping her gum, before looking down again at her magazine "But not for ungrateful _bitches"_ she adds with a scoff.

The blonde-haired girl passes a hand through her hair, before speaking. "I'm sorry okay?" she affirms, one hum of acknowledgment presents. She continues, "I was going through a lot that day."

"Yeah, seems like you aren't doing _fucking_ better," The latina quips with a laugh, before throwing the magazine down.

They exchange one look, before the girl reaches for a bottle behind herself, giving it to her.

"Take it," Santana orders with a raised eyebrow and one expression that Quinn can't read.

"I'm paying," The blonde says with a scoff, opening her wallet to give her the bucks, but the girl just leaves the cream on top of the counter, going back to the magazine.

"Take the family discount and get _out,"_ Santana bites, without looking back at her.

Someone enters the store and Quinn smiles apologetically back at them as she tries to pay again. "Thanks, but I'm still paying,” she bites.

"Leave me alone," The girl bites back, but her smile says otherwise.

The person behind Quinn clears their throat and she just picks the cream, leaving a five-dollar bill on the counter. She won't walk out of that store letting that girl win, even if it feels more like the start of a friendship and less of a rivalry between the two of them.

"What are you looking at, _four-eyes?"_

* * *

_A few months after._

"I just couldn't do it," Quinn explains, sitting in the chair by the counter as Santana fills the vitrine with supplements. “I was raised by the church and I couldn't do it,” she continues with a shrug, sipping her bottle of water.

"Yeah, I would have _killed_ myself,” Santana comments with a mocking smile. Quinn throws a piece of cookie at her head, but the latina just skips it. “Or gifted it," she adds with a shrug.

“Yeah, I'm already looking into adoption,” The blonde replies, patting her belly that no longer remains a secret, it's bigger, it's swollen and she can't deny there's life there.

Her parents don't look at her as she walks across the streets of their little town, she's the shame of their family and Quinn gives exactly one little _fuck_ about it as she goes back home to Leroy and Hiram, who read books about babies and pregnancy aftercare, even when she tells them she isn't gonna keep it.

It still makes her smile to know she's not that alone with this little fucker in the way.

“Hey, _preggers,”_ Santana calls and Quinn just shows her the middle finger as she looks up to the girl by the ladder. “You have never told me - _who's the father?”_

Quinn gives a long sigh, shaking her head from side to side. “Guess,” she says, trying to entertain her friend as she distracts her from work.

And the latina sends her a smile, tapping her chin with a deodorant as she does, _“Sam Evans?”_

“Yeah, like I would be _that_ lucky,” Quinn counters back with a shake of her head, taking another sip of her water bottle, she sighs longingly. “He actually asked me out to the dance back then, somehow, I just know that if I had taken his offer, _this_ wouldn't have happened,” she says, looking down at her belly and caressing it. “No offense, _baby.”_

“He's part of the celibate club from church, I think,” Santana comments, continuing to stack toilet paper with a nod. “Anyway - _Hudson?”_

Quinn frowns deeply at his last name, trying to not crush the bottle under her grip as the image of him and Rachel appear before her eyes.

The latina turns from the vitrine to snort as she moves down the ladder and towards her.

“Calm down, _She-Hulk,”_ She teases, taking the bottle away from her. “Wasn't he your boyfriend once upon a time ago?”

“He _was,”_ Quinn confirms with a nod, closing her eyes as she remembers with a sense of victory, that just like her, he remained in town, not one offer for a scholarship or college, just him and his sucky band staying behind. Still, the bitterness doesn't leave her tone as she continues. "Although, during the time of the - _conception_ \- he was actually dating my best friend, _Rachel.”_

“Wait - _Berry?”_ Santana inquires, turning to look at her with a strange expression as she nods mutely. “I thought she was _too_ good for anyone in this sorry town,” the girl adds with a laugh as she climbs up the stairs with a box full of soap.

A strange moment passes through the air and then Quinn asks with interest. “You know Rachel?” 

“Kinda,” Santana replies with a noncommittal shrug as she stacks the bottles of soap, even if her words point otherwise. “We went to singing lessons together when we were younger,” she comments.

“You _sing?”_ Quinn asks with a laugh as she rubs her belly over her shirt.

But Santana just ignores her, continuing to stack the items “So _Hudson_ ain't baby daddy, that leaves about the rest of the population with a _penis_ in this _sorry_ town” she comments with glee, turning to look at her.

 _“Watch it,”_ The blonde snaps, throwing another piece of cookie to her head, this time hitting the side of Santana's face. Quinn high fives her stomach before eating a cookie herself.

“Well, just tell me before I'll bring the _losers_ from the _rugby team_ into it,” Santana threatens with a glare, moving the crumbs of her head with her hand. 

Quinn shakes her head, before sighing deeply, just giving up as she looks to the ceiling of the store, evading the stare as one damned last name leaves her lips _“Puckerman”_ she answers with rosy cheeks.

The way that Santana turns around just tells her enough as the girl shakes her head too, falling silent for a second.

“Yeah, you're far more _stupid_ than I thought so,” The girl adds after a few seconds, going back to her task.

And Quinn has no reply to that as she eats another cookie, rubbing her belly because she totally agrees with her new friend.

She's the whole _damn_ circus for that and beyond.

* * *

By the last few weeks of pregnancy, her stomach is too big, and the weather is too cold for her to go outside, so she becomes one with the bigger couch in the living room.

Leroy brings her cookies and Hiram checks on her as he runs from the hospital to the house and back.

She and _Netflix_ become even closer friends than her and Santana in the meantime.

“What a _fucking whale,”_ The latina exclaims, pushing her away to sit by her side on the couch. The bowl of popcorn on Quinn's lap gets stolen and that's why the blonde actually prefers the streaming service more.

“This movie is _so_ stupid,” Quinn comments as The Proposal plays before their eyes, Sandra Bullock is willing to go to Alaska with her secretary instead of hiring another man to pretend to marry her, yeah, it's stupid.

The fact that they fall in love in a few days, it's even stupider to her, but Quinn loves it.

Suddenly, her cell phone starts to vibrate by her lap, and she reaches for it, answering it with a smile. 

_“Quinn!”_

The voice of Rachel instantly sends a smile to her face as she bites her lip. Her best friend has been so busy with her new starting life through college that they've had more texts and calls than anything else. It certainly benefits her as her belly doesn't appear on the screen.

For their part, Leroy and Hiram have maintained the secret and everything is good between them.

 _“Rach_ \- how are you?” The blonde replies, passing a hand over her covered belly, the baby kicks and she shakes her head with closed eyes as she thinks of why it is.

When she opens her eyes, the movie has been paused and Santana is now watching her, eating popcorn with attention.

_“Great, Quinn! Even better than that! Actually, I'm leaving the theatre just as we speak! We just watched Wicked!”_

Quinn frowns slightly, her smile dimming as she absorbs the words and listens to the sounds through the call. “That's - that's great, uhm, but who is _we?”_ she asks, rubbing her belly again.

 _“Uhm- Quinn, I met someone”_ Comes the shy response from her best friend, the words are like a kick in her gut, The blonde bites her lip almost drawing blood as Rachel continues with a whisper, _“He is amazing, Quinn, he - is so much like me - and he just heard me, it will get to his head now.”_

 _“I don't need to hear it, I know I'm amazing, Rach,_ ” Enters a male voice from the other end and Quinn moves her hand to her mouth to hold the sob that has threatened to leave her lips, she sends an alarmed expression to Santana, who stops munching on popcorn.

Not him calling her _Rach_ \- how long has this been going on?

 _“That's Jesse,”_ Rachel continues with a laugh as the blonde closes her eyes and sighs, trying to calm herself down. _“He says hi.”_

 _“No, I don't,”_ replies the jerk of a man as Quinn seethes. She grips the phone tightly in her hand and Santana continues eating popcorn with a more engrossed expression. _“I don't even know her.”_

 _“She's my best friend, baby,”_ Rachel replies. Her voice cuts off and Quinn feels like puking when she thinks about the endearment. _“Anyway - Talk to you later, Quinn, we are going for dinner now, bye!”_

And the end calls, leaving Quinn sitting there, trying to absorb everything that has happened in the span of less than three minutes.

 _“Wow,”_ Santana admonishes with an appreciative nod. “Whatever that was,” she says pointing her hand to Quinn's phone that lays beside her again on the couch. “Far more interesting than that bore-fest,” she comments, tilting her head to the TV.

“She got a _new_ boyfriend,” Quinn breathes out, shaking her head from side to side as she just puts another handful of popcorn inside her mouth.

“Berry moves fast,” Santana replies with a frown, eyeing her with careful and inquisitive eyes.

"She - We were supposed to do New York _together,"_ Quinn comments and she breaks down into tears, covering her face with sticky fingers.

Santana isn't that kind of friend to cry with, she just receives awkward pats on the back and her friend continues eating her popcorn.

But it feels like enough of a consolation as she receives a napkin to dry her tears and then the movie resumes playing.

Quinn cries with the ending and both of them pretend it's because Sandra Bullock is finally opening herself up to love and not because the blonde just found out her best friend is starting a new life without her.

At least, Santana doesn't mock her about it.

* * *

Christmas comes and it's her favorite time of the year.

Of course, Rachel isn't visiting because she and her new friends are holding a party over in New York, and Quinn finds herself sitting in her bed trying to not cry as she thinks about how different everything is.

She rubs her stomach and sighs.

Suddenly, there’s kicking and movement from the baby inside her and she grins with surprise, glancing at her growing stomach with a teary grin.

"Is this your way of telling me I'm not alone?" Quinn whispers, lifting her t-shirt to caress her bump and the baby kicks again and she giggles _. "God,_ are you gonna be a soccer player?" 

And the radio playing softly by her nightstand just starts to play another song.

_Oh Elizabeth, I long to see your pretty Face_

_I long to touch your Lips, I long to feel your warm embrace_

_Don't know if I could ever live my life without you_

_"I remember when we shared a life together,"_ Quinn sings, her lips curving with a smile. _"You gave me strength and love, and life that felt brand new.”_

As she sings, the baby continues to kick, almost dancing to her voice.

The realization of the baby being so happy around her is bittersweet, Quinn isn't sure what it means, but she just keeps singing, repeating the name each time with my warmness blossoming inside her chest.

_Oh Elizabeth, I'm sure missing you_

_Oh Elizabeth_

* * *

But then the baby looks once at Quinn as she takes her in her arms and the blonde absolutely falls in love with her.

It's both the best _and_ worst experience of her life in one little moment.

Hiram opens his arms to receive the baby and take it to the maternity of the hospital, Quinn decides to do what she knows is the only option that has always existed.

"I'm gonna _keep_ her," She says with a nod, glancing at the man, who has an expression of understanding that makes her wanna cry, but she just pushes past it and continues. "I'm gonna keep, _Beth."_

 _"Beth?"_ Hiram asks with awe as she nods, letting the baby play with her finger. "As in _Elizabeth?"_ he asks tearily.

"No," Quinn shakes her head, moving to kiss the baby's head, and her heart bursts at the seams with hundreds of different emotions.

She wishes her parents weren't such assholes and could be with her.

Then she wishes Rachel could be with her, holding her hand, telling her everything will be alright, just as a best friend, just being there.

But her life isn't the one of her dreams and she licks her dry lips, continuing her track of thought.

"No, just _Beth,"_ Quinn mutters, giving another kiss to the baby's head as Hiram nods with a smile.

"I'll go get the social worker," He informs and pats her arms once, before retreating back to the hallway.

The room feels both too big and too small as she looks at the new life in her arms and tries to not break down right there in the hospital bed with her daughter in her arms.

It's just her and her little bundle of joy now against the world.

_...to continue_

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> and what do you think about it? remember, kudos and comments always welcome :)


End file.
